Chapter 362

After the Newcomer Award was presented, it was followed by a song and dance performance.

The host didn't make any introduction; the stage lights suddenly changed, and five or six young people dressed in colorful costumes suddenly appeared on stage, singing and dancing between the stage and the audience seats to cheerful music.

Chen Nuo didn't recognize who these leads of 'High School Musical' were; he just felt... this lighting and stage design around 2010 was truly an eyesore.

If Michelle Williams hadn't been trained by him to have decent taste, he reckoned he would have had to wear makeup like this,

and then, 10 years later, watch himself on the TV screen and cry silently.

At this moment, a thought suddenly popped into his head.

Weren't Qi Yuntian and the others currently preparing a TV series?

Shouldn't he stop standing by and watching?

At the very least, shouldn't he bring over some original aesthetics from 10-plus years later?

Let these ancients see how people of the future live, thereby accelerating the speed of aesthetic evolution.

Otherwise, thinking that it would take another five, six, seven, or eight years to get rid of these "Golden Lion King" hairstyles and colorful eyeshadows, he really felt miserable.

He glanced at the performance on stage, his gaze quickly moving away, returning to his phone, typing on the screen.

But he didn't notice a tall, long-legged, pretty girl on stage who, while dancing, kept her eyes locked on him in a subtle way.

Gu Xuan knew Chen Nuo had come to the scene today.

But he was in the first row, and she was sitting in the third row from the back.

With five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten rows in between, she had absolutely no chance to talk to him without attracting attention.

'High School Musical' was released on August 15th.

It was jointly created by SMG, Huayi Brothers, and Disney. Before filming started, Wang Zonglei told her this movie would definitely be a hit.

And at the time, she thought so too.

Shanghai Media Group, Huayi, plus Disney—the three production parties represented state capital, famous enterprises, and foreign Hollywood giants. Could a movie created by their joint efforts not be a hit?

So she hid it from everyone, sacrificed her body, and traded it for a role in this movie.

However, when it finished its run last month, the box office of only 5 million RMB was like a bucket of cold water poured over the heads of all the participants.

This not only made the movie a laughingstock but also made the future of the director and the actors incredibly bleak.

Where should she go from here?

Gu Xuan had been thinking about this recently.

Especially since her best friend Tong Liya's acting career was so smooth; she had just finished acting in Jiang Wen's movie and had entered another big production as the female lead.

Comparing the two, she was simply a joke.

What's more, Wang Zonglei spent less and less time with her now...

Just then, she heard about the recruitment plan of the Huanxin company, and she happened to know some things... but, thinking of the power of Huayi and Wang Zonglei, and thinking of the kind of retaliation she would have to bear afterward, she couldn't make up her mind.

Finally, when she finished her performance and left the stage, her heart was still filled with confusion.

Chen Nuo was completely unaware of this.

He was busy texting Qi Yuntian, concerned about whether he would make a fool of himself tonight.

"What did you say?"

"Just like you said, I spoke directly, finding Deputy Director Wang who had been in contact with me. Although we have no evidence, only your speculation, Deputy Director Wang is a good person; he didn't say much, just said he would report it to those above." Qi Yuntian replied very quickly.

"That's it?"

"Also, he told us to rest assured."

Seeing this reply, Chen Nuo's heart sank; he immediately felt this matter was a bit precarious. When ordinary people handle things, hearing something like "report to those above, please rest assured," they probably feel a bit uneasy.

He stared at the screen and typed: "What do you think? Can there be no problem?"

"No." Qi Yuntian replied very bluntly.

Chen Nuo typed "Hahaha" in the text, and in reality, he couldn't help but curl his lips and smile.

Zhang Guoli noticed this smile from the corner of his eye, and a cold smile also appeared on his lips.

Smile all you want; you won't be able to smile in a moment.

The awards process proceeded in an orderly manner, and after the song and dance, it was time for Best Supporting Actor.

In this competition, lacking the participation of 'The Message', Wu Yuanzheng from 'If You Are the One' defeated Jaycee Chan, Li Youbin, and Huang Bo—who was still filming in the Gobi and hadn't arrived—with an absolute advantage of 56 votes, lifting the Best Supporting Actor trophy.

Once again, it matched the winner on the list.

But the following Best Supporting Actress result was somewhat unexpected.

The Hundred Flowers Awards, which had vowed not to give out "double yolks" (ties), actually announced that Wang Jia and Xu Qing were joint winners with 30 votes each, immediately causing an uproar at the scene.

Zhang Guoli raised his eyebrows slightly, feeling a bit surprised.

But seeing that Xu Qing hadn't actually come to the scene, he immediately understood.

Wang Jia had clearly tampered with it, turning an award that should have been Xu Qing's alone into a split between the two, so Xu Qing was dissatisfied and simply stayed away.

And given Xu Qing's background, she clearly wasn't afraid of the consequences. At most, it was a case of "you do the first, I do the fifteenth."

After figuring it out, Zhang Guoli felt even more at ease.

If the awards ceremony had gone exactly according to the prescribed route, he might have worried about the aftermath, but now, with this Wang Jia incident as company, what was he afraid of?

He glanced calmly in the direction of the jury, and a handsome young man happened to look over.

That was Shen Chang, a Shanghainese, the only person among the jurors who knew his identity, and the key pawn he had planted to handle this matter.

Their eyes met briefly, then separated without a trace.

After the Supporting Actress award, Liu Xiaoqing took the stage to present the first Golden Rooster Lifetime Achievement Award; the winner was the 81-year-old Mr. Yu Yang.

Then the next award was Best Actor.

Watching the footage on the big screen reviewing Mr. Yu Yang's film career, Zhang Guoli wanted to say something.

Because things had reached this point, even if Chen Nuo knew, it would be of no use.

So, Zhang Guoli couldn't hold back.

He wanted Chen Nuo to know that the reason his Best Actor trophy had vanished was because he had offended someone he absolutely shouldn't have.

So he looked at the stage, leaned his body toward Chen Nuo, and spoke: "Chen Nuo, is this our first time meeting?"

Chen Nuo was a bit surprised that Zhang Laoshi Guoli, who had been silent all night, suddenly started talking to him.

However, thinking about the current timing, he immediately realized that this must be the moment to show his cards.

So he didn't have a good tone either, replying faintly: "Yes."

"But this isn't the first time we've spoken tonight, right?"

"Mm."

"Remember the last time I called you, what did you say?"

"My memory isn't good. I don't really remember unimportant calls."

Zhang Guoli smiled and said: "Then let me remind you, you said that in how you live and act, there are very few things you care about..."

Chen Nuo hadn't been pretending before; so much time had passed, and he really couldn't remember that unimportant call.

But when Zhang Guoli said this, he wasn't suffering from amnesia, so of course he remembered how he had responded when Zhang Guoli called him about Zhang Mo.

And Zhang Guoli reproduced it almost word for word.

"... In this life, you only care about three things. That is fairness, fairness, and motherfucking fairness. That's what you said, right?"

Chen Nuo smiled and said: "Right."

Zhang Guoli laughed: "Then tonight, I'll teach you a lesson; in fact, there is no absolute fairness in this world."

"How do you plan to teach me?"

Zhang Guoli smiled slightly and said: "No need to play dumb, and don't try to fish for information from me; I know you young people use advanced phones that have recording functions. Alright, I won't say anymore. Wait and see the results."

Chen Nuo was stunned; under this kind of personal insult, his face finally changed, and he couldn't help but sneer: "You really look down on people too much, Zhang Laoshi."

Zhang Guoli chuckled: "No, it's just that what I wanted to say is finished. Be quiet, come on, let's continue watching the show."

Seeing Zhang Laoshi's calm and leisurely look, Chen Nuo was truly furious.

His hand in his pocket pressed the side button of his iPhone, stopping the recording.

So damn cunning.

Although he had started recording from the beginning, this old fox had talked for a long time without revealing a single key piece of information.

Otherwise, if he had taken this recording to those above, he would have made him pay.

But now... fuck!

Alright, the mystery was completely solved.

His feeling was indeed correct; the mastermind behind all this was indeed Zhang Laoshi Guoli.

This was someone coming to avenge his son.

Zhang Laoshi's implication was also very simple: he had made Zhang Mo return from the 'Let the Bullets Fly' crew empty-handed, and today Zhang Laoshi Guoli was prepared to return the favor, making him leave the Hundred Flowers Awards stage empty-handed.

It must be said that, so far, Zhang Laoshi Guoli's plot seemed to have been 99% completed.

Even though he had actually sensed it in advance and told Qi Yuntian, and Qi Yuntian had reported it in time.

However, everything remained so calm.

There was no movement at all in the jury box.

Chen Nuo had actually been observing, and he hadn't seen anyone call those jurors out for a talk, nor had anyone entered the jury box to chat one by one; not only was there no one whispering, but these jurors probably didn't even have their phones, sitting upright with their voting devices.

Except when Best Supporting Actor was presented, he noticed two leaders in the same row get up and leave for a moment, but it was less than two minutes before they sat back down.

There was no other abnormality.

Undoubtedly, Zhang Laoshi's scheme had succeeded; in such a short time, even the organization couldn't stop his conspiracy.

And afterward?

To be honest, without evidence, and since this wasn't a case of undermining unity, when all was said and done, it was just a Hundred Flowers Award—an award he might not even have cared about if Zhang Laoshi Guoli hadn't been so overbearing and aggressive.

Who would seek justice for him once the wood was already chipped?

Zhang Laoshi wasn't some rootless tree; he was a dignified director of the Film Association! In terms of rank, that was deputy department level!

What was he, a wild child? He had only been on the News Broadcast for twenty seconds; who would take him to heart?

A few words of comfort afterward would be the end of it.

Forget it, this time he was outmaneuvered by someone with intent... screw that! Chen Nuo was burning with rage inside; there's a long road ahead, Zhang Guoli, just you wait.

……

Finally, after Mr. Yu Yang, it was time for the highly anticipated Best Actor of the night.

I don't know if it was a coincidence or what, but the presenters were Zhang Ziyi and her partner, Hong Kong's Best Actor Tony Leung Ka-fai.

After exchanging a few compliments at the start, Tony Leung said: "I'm not very good at speaking, and I rarely act as a presenter. However, Ziyi, you are experienced and have done it many times."

Zhang Ziyi nodded with a smile: "Right, I have indeed done it quite a few times."

"Which one left the deepest impression on you?" Tony Leung asked.

Zhang Ziyi pondered for a moment: "Hmm, it should be Cannes last year."

"Why?"

"I think I don't need to say it; everyone knows why."

As soon as she finished speaking, the big screen cut to a close-up of Chen Nuo at the right time.

Zhang Ziyi waved at him and teased: "Chen Nuo, if you win tonight, you have to take me out to dinner."

Logically, Chen Nuo should have responded with a smile to International Zhang's well-meaning joke, but he was in a terrible mood and couldn't smile at all; he twitched his lips and made an "OK" gesture.

Laughter erupted at the scene.

Tony Leung laughed: "It seems Chen Nuo is nervous. Ziyi, when you won the Hundred Flowers Best Actress, were you nervous too?"

Zhang Ziyi smiled and said: "Of course, after all, this is a very, very precious honor..."

Zhang Guoli didn't want to listen, but he had to keep listening.

Because imagining the climax to come, he couldn't wait.

Finally, after a few minutes of small talk, Tony Leung said: "OK, let's take a look at the nominees for Best Actor tonight. Please look at the big screen."

The lights in the venue dimmed.

A deep male voice rang out: "The nominees for the 30th Best Actor are—the actor playing Wang Sheng in 'Painted Skin', Chen Kun."

Looking at Chen Kun's angular and deep-eyed face on the big screen, Chen Nuo couldn't help but think that this was probably the Best Actor Zhang Laoshi Guoli had chosen.

If he were Zhang Guoli, he would definitely do the same.

There were five candidates in total: Donnie Yen, Hou Yong, Zhang Guoli himself, Chen Kun, and him, Chen Nuo.

Donnie Yen, a kung fu star, his path was too niche, and his fan base was different.

Hou Yong, respected, but his age was there; winning the award wouldn't suppress his momentum.

Zhang Guoli himself, that would be even more boring; an old senior winning Best Actor didn't have enough impact.

Only Chen Kun, only 10 years older than him, could be considered of the same young generation, and he had looks, acting skills, and many fans; his name was only one character away from his, looking very much like a pair of rivals.

And he had heard that because of 'Let the Bullets Fly', the two of them's fans had attacked each other online; in this way, wasn't Chen Kun the best candidate to go head-to-head with him?

If Chen Kun snatched this Best Actor crown tonight—which was rumored to be his—it would definitely be ten times more humiliating than anyone else taking it.

However, Chen Kun did act very well.

During the process of acting opposite Chen Kun in 'Let the Bullets Fly', he could feel that his senior was also a person obsessed with acting.

Chen Nuo felt that perhaps losing to Chen Kun wasn't unacceptable.

So, after Chen Kun's clip finished playing, he followed the audience and applauded.

Then, the deep male voice continued to introduce the next Best Actor candidate: "The actor playing Chiang Kai-shek in 'The Founding of a Republic', Zhang Guoli."

After this one finished playing, he didn't applaud.

Next was him.

"The actor playing Lao San in 'Under the Hawthorn Tree', Chen Nuo."

After the clip of his performance as Lao San finished, he still didn't have the heart to applaud, just forced a smile at the close-up camera to avoid losing his composure.

"The actor playing Ip Man in 'Ip Man', Donnie Yen."

"The actor in 'The Shocking', Hou Yong."

The clips finished playing, and the two presenters, Zhang Ziyi and Tony Leung, left the stage.

The two hosts, Tu Jingwei and Tao Jingying, began to take over and stir up the atmosphere.

Tu Jingwei laughed: "Just now, every time a male actor's clip was played, the audience gave warm applause. It seems this award is hard to choose. For example, Zhang Laoshi Guoli, he won the Hundred Flowers Best Actor 14 years ago; his strength is unquestionable."

Tao Jingying followed up: "Exquisite acting, I think the jurors must vote for Zhang Laoshi Guoli!"

Tu Jingwei said: "But Teacher Hou Yong is the representative of our strength-based actors."

Tao Jingying immediately changed her tune: "Hou Yong is also good, voting for him is fine too!"

"And Chen Kun, the leader of young actors."

"You mean that guy in 'Painted Skin' who was full of lust and didn't keep his marital vows? He acted too well, vote for him, vote for him!"

"What about Donnie Yen's Ip Man?"

"Wing Chun! My god, a man with muscles all over his body, his fight scenes are so handsome, and his kissing scenes are so great; must vote for Ip Man!"

Tu Jingwei laughed and interrupted: "You've changed your mind again. And Chen Nuo, he acted..."

Before she could finish, Tao Jingying snatched the words with a fan-girl look: "No matter what he acts in, voting for Chen Nuo is the right choice! Please, 101 jurors!"

Tu Jingwei laughed: "Sister Tao, your face-changing is too fast. But jurors, don't be led astray by her. Now please press the button in your hands and vote for the Best Actor in your hearts!"

Tao Jingying shouted at the top of her lungs: "Countdown, 3! 2! 1!"

Finally, the two said in unison: "Please vote!"

On the big screen, the names of Chen Kun, Zhang Guoli, Chen Nuo, Hou Yong, and Donnie Yen were lined up, and the waves above each person's name were ready to go.

"The fierce competition begins now; who will the Best Actor of this Hundred Flowers Award fall to..." Tao Jingying shouted loudly, drawing out the tone.

"... to." Compared to before, the sound of the last word was particularly small.

Because she was staring at the screen, and she was a bit stunned.

Not just her, Chen Nuo was the same.

Five seconds ago, he was still staring at the top of the screen, not even blinking.

The moment Tu Jingwei and Tao Jingying shouted "vote," he felt like a big rock was pressing on his heart, and his ears were filled with Zhang Guoli's slow "wait and see the results."

However, he really wanted to see who Zhang Guoli had arranged.

Whether it was Chen Kun.

He felt that for him, this was the last suspense of the night.

If it really was Chen Kun... fine, actually there was nothing to be comforted by; it was still disgusting.

But what could he do?

The camera was right in his face; he couldn't cover his face and run away, he could only sit in the chair and bite the bullet to watch how he died.

When Tao Jingying started stirring up the atmosphere again, he looked at the screen with both eyes, pretending to be very focused, but in his heart, he was already calculating what he should say to regain some face in front of Zhang Guoli once the dust settled.

But the next second, Tao Jingying's words stopped abruptly, and Chen Nuo couldn't help but let out an "Ah."

Not just him, the entire audience seemed to be cut from the same mold, all shouting "Ah," and the sound gathered together was deafening.

Only Zhang Guoli couldn't shout, because after his extreme surprise, his first reaction was: the money was scammed!

Immediately, he turned his head sharply, his eyes glaring fiercely at Shen Chang in the jury box.

However, Zhang Laoshi immediately realized that this matter absolutely had nothing to do with Shen Chang.

It wasn't because he turned his head and saw Shen Chang frantically pressing the voting device like an idiot, in a chaotic mess as if he were having a seizure.

Nor was it because he saw half of the jurors acting the same way as Shen Chang, all staring at the voting devices in a daze, pressing frantically.

It was because...

This was too outrageous!

"Zhang Laoshi, is this the result you wanted me to see?"

At this moment, a soft whisper drifted into Zhang Guoli's ear, full of curiosity in its tone.

Chen Nuo wasn't pretending; he was really quite curious.

If Zhang Guoli hadn't been returning evil with good, he really couldn't figure out why it would be like this.

Could he have been completely wrong?

This old guy wasn't avenging his son at all, but coming to pay off his son's debts?

Zhang Guoli was a good person who pursued fairness and justice!

All that canvassing, all that Tao Jingying, were just paving the way for him!

Otherwise, how to explain it?

He, Chen Nuo, wasn't a god!

If no one had thrown money to pave the way for him, why would a neat 10:10:60:10:10 pop up on the screen in the first second of voting?

The water wave above his name shot straight into the clouds, standing tall?

Zhang Guoli didn't respond to Chen Nuo's words, staring blankly at the water wave on the screen that looked like a raised middle finger,

only feeling it shaking arrogantly toward him, making his eyes dizzy and his heart blocked, his chest feeling like it was about to explode.

If it weren't for the last shred of reason in his brain pulling him back like a rope, he really wanted to jump up, point at the screen, and roar: "Rigged!!!!!"

……

At the same time.

In the first row of the audience, Deputy Director Zhang frowned slightly and said unhappily: "This is a bit too obvious."

Kang Jianmin coughed and said: "We just started cooperating with this company this session; the time was too tight, maybe the people below didn't explain it clearly. I'll criticize them later."

"It changed too fast, without a process; the business capability is too poor. Will the voting screen be broadcast?"

"No, no, the live broadcast has a 30-second delay. I've already instructed the control room. They know what to do. Just cut to close-ups of each candidate's face, and finally a wide shot to show the vote count, that's enough."

"Mm. That's good. However, is there one vote missing?"

Kang Jianmin looked and nodded: "It seems so..."

Before Director Kang finished speaking, he saw the small water wave above Zhang Guoli's name struggle to jump up one small notch, and the number under the wave changed from 10 to 11.

Kang Jianmin clapped his hands and laughed: "Alright, now it's correct."

(End of this chapter)